Francis I (1494 - 1547). Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was a significant patron of the arts and was portrayed in numerous works of art during his reign in the 16th century. He was often depicted in portraits as a handsome and elegant man, with a long face, a prominent nose, and a small beard. He was typically shown wearing rich and elaborate clothing, including fur-trimmed robes and jeweled caps. His portrait by Jean Clouet, which is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, shows Francis I in three-quarter view, wearing a black cap and a fur-trimmed robe. The portrait is notable for its lifelike quality and its attention to detail, particularly in the rendering of the king's facial features and expression. His portrait by Titian shows him in three-quarter view, wearing a black cap and a fur-trimmed robe. The portrait is notable for its rendering of the king's facial features and expression. A portrait of Francis I, which is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, shows him in three-quarter view, wearing a black cap and a fur-trimmed robe. This portrait is notable for its rendering of the king's face and hands, as well as its use of color and texture to create a sense of richness and opulence. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angouleme, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a son. A prodigious patron of the arts, he initiated the French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work on the Chateau de Chambord, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Pere et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as Francois du Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, and the Roi-Chevalier for his personal involvement in the wars against his great rival Emperor Charles V, who was also King of Spain. Following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. The succession of Charles V to the Burgundian Netherlands, the throne of Spain, and his subsequent election as Holy Roman Emperor meant that France was geographically encircled by the Habsburg monarchy. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis d'Orleans was born on 12 September 1494 at the Chateau de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, a part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the only son of Charles d'Orleans, Count of Angouleme, and Louise of Savoy and a great-great-grandson of King Charles V of France. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his father's cousin the Duke of Orleans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, who himself had no male heir. The Salic Law prevented women from inheriting the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, but only through an assembly of nobles were the two engaged. Claude was heir presumptive to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Anne's death, the marriage took place on 18 May 1514.